Beach Ball Classic | Muhammad leads Bishop Gorman to third-place finish

The Bishop Gorman (Nev.) team that was drubbed in Friday night’s semifinals was not the same team Whitney Young (Ill.) was tasked with trying to stop in Saturday’s third-place game.

After falling by 21 points to Milton (Ga.) on Friday, Bishop Gorman showed why it’s one of the top ranked teams in the country in an 84-51 win over the Dolphins.

“We had a really solid effort today; we got good production out of seven or eight guys,” Bishop Gorman coach Grant Rice said. “It was just a group win and we were really excited to finish such a prestigious tournament with a big win.”

The Gaels (7-3) were again led by star 6-6 senior guard Shabazz Muhammad – considered by many scouting services as the top player in the country – who scored a game-high 32 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Muhammad displayed an impressive inside-outside game while hitting 12-of-17 shot from the field.

Muhammad credited his teammates for picking up their play after the discouraging loss.

“The guys really stepped up,” Muhammad said. “I told them they had to score and they really improved from last night’s game and you could see it tonight.”

Bishop Gorman’s Rosco Allen pitched in 17 points and seven rebounds and Demetris Morant added 11 points.

The Gaels wanted to restrict the impact of Whitney Young’s Jahlil Okafor, and they did just that, limiting the 6-11 sophomore to just 10 points and seven rebounds, including just one point in the first half.

“We knew how good Okafor’s been, he’s been dominating the tournament,” Rice said. “We wanted to make it as difficult on him as we could, double-teaming him every time he got the ball and it worked tonight.”

Rice also pointed out Muhammad’s leadership skills as a key to victory.

“We have the best player in the country and he’s such a leader,” Rice said. “He was so efficient tonight and he didn’t force anything.”

It was a tough finish to the tournament for Whitney Young, which lost in double overtime in the semifinals.

“We would have liked to have played with a greater level of energy,” Dolphins coach Tyrone Slaughter said. “We didn’t do that and it ultimately doomed us.”

Miles Reynolds led Whitney Young with 11 points.

•  BISHOP GORMAN (84) – Rashad Muhammad 5, Gio Guzman 3, Noah Robotham 7, Shabazz Muhammad 32, Demetris Morant 11, Mishima Gray 2, Trey Kennedy 4, Rosco Allen 17, Nick Gianakoulias 3

•  WHITNEY YOUNG (51) – Miles Reynolds 11, Gabriel Snider 3, Nate Brooks 7, Jahlil Okafor 10, Paul White 9, Scott Kingsley 8, Keith Langston 3

• 3-point goals: Bishop Gorman 8 (R. Muhammad, Guzman, Robotham 2, S. Muhammad, Allen 2, Gianakoulias); Whitney Young 7 (Reynolds 2, Snider, White, Kingsley 2, Langston). Team fouls: Bishop Gorman 17, Whitney Young 18. Fouled out: Stephen Zimmerman. Technical fouls: None.

• Records: Bishop Gorman (7-3); Whitney Young (6-4).